NATO Afghanistan airstrike kills 27 civilians

A NATO airstrike in Afghanistan mistakenly killed 27 civilians, the government said on Monday, hurting a campaign to win over the local population and defeat Taliban insurgents.

The Afghan cabinet condemned the killings as “unjustifiable” after an aircraft fired on civilians, mistaking them for insurgents, in the south near the border of Uruzgan and Dai Kondi provinces.

Civilian casualties have caused friction between the government and foreign forces, who have launched two big offensives in the past eight months in a bid to turn the tide of a growing Taliban-led insurgency.